There is no doubt that many of Eastern Europe's key airports are in dire need of upgrading and expansion. As elsewhere in the world, governments are casting around for private finance, but as yet privatisation itself is not on the agenda.
Despite the trauma which followed the collapse of communism, passenger numbers have been on the rise again over the past couple of years and are expected to show further gains this year. Airports in the stronger economies have been forging ahead, the crisis in Russia notwithstanding.
Prague saw 14.8% growth last year to 4.4 million passengers and early this year opened a new terminal to cope with growth. Budapest's Ferihegy posted 9.2% growth, reaching the 3.6 million mark and expects to open its new terminal in the first half of 1999. Growth of 14.6% also took Warsaw airport towards 3.6 million and close to its capacity, prompting the Polish Government to look at ways to add more.
But despite this expansion, privatisation is still barely talked of in the region. Not a single airport terminal is in private hands and capacity extensions opened this year have all been financed by governments and institutions such as development banks. Governments remain reluctant to sell off their crown jewels to western operators.
There are vague Czech proposals to begin privatising some of the smaller airports at Brno and Karlovy Vary but for the moment these are just plans. Some cities in the region are also looking at opening up former military sites for commercial use but it is uncertain whether there are the traffic levels to support these.
Outside of the main Czech, Polish and Hungarian capitals, international passenger numbers remain low, while domestic travel is only picking up slowly. The largest project to see movement in the next year will be the refurbishment of Bulgaria's Sofia airport, including plans to revamp its runway. Two other projects have already secured financing at Croatia's Dubrovnik and Zagreb airport. Other firm plans are a rarity.
States in the former Soviet Union once used 1,040 airports but this has now dropped to just 750, with further reductions almost certain as the financial crisis in Russia begins to bite. However Chisinau in Moldova and Riga in Latvia are both attempting to find financing for their airport upgrades as is St Petersburg and Novosibirsk in Russia. Aeroflot's main hub, Moscow Sheremetyevo airport, is bursting and the airline says it wants to build its own terminal. Like so much else in the region, so far it is only at the planning stage.
Source: Airline Business
